Hello,
I want to change out my MTF to try and make my 2nd gear shifts more smooth without the syncro grind that I occassional get. I've read that sometime the Redline MTF will help remedy this situation. I was just curious how easy it is to get the bolt off & change the fluid. I have a Bently and will consult that but wanted advise here also. This is for my 88 16v Scirocco.
TBH, Chris
Piece of cake. My local Autozone had a big enough allen wrench (1/2 inch drive) for the drain plug, and with a breaker bar it came right off. I filled through the speedo drive hole.
It's a good idea to make sure you can open the fill hole before you drain the fluid...
Craig
Good advise on the speedo hole. Bad advise on the size of the drain. Its metric, and 17mm I think. 1/2 equates to 13mm which is hella small. I switched to synthetic, which makes a HUGE difference, and apparently adds a longer life to your VW.
JOk, thanks for the tips guys. Any idea on where this "speedo hole" is located?
where the "speedo" cable meets your tranny dude.
You misread. The 17mm (I think, which is why I didn't specify for sure) socket that I purchased at Autozone is to be used with a 1/2 inch drive ratchet.
Craig
||Hello, || ||I want to change out my MTF to try and make my 2nd gear shifts more smooth ||without the syncro grind that I occassional get. I've read that sometime ||the Redline MTF will help remedy this situation. I was just curious how easy ||it is to get the bolt off & change the fluid. I have a Bently and will ||consult that but wanted advise here also. This is for my 88 16v Scirocco. || ||TBH, Chris || ||
Rex in Fort Worth
Ok, and sorry for being lazy. I've now searched these great watercooled forums and see TONS of info on changing this MTL (LOL) fluid. One person actually seems to think the redline MTL actually shortened his trannys life?
One more thing... Is this True??
"88 or 89 and up VWs have the fill hole moved higher so both full quarts can be pumped in through the side fill hole without having to mess with the speedo cable, but this is not the case on earlier A2 cars so make sure which tranny is which. "
If so, my 88 Rocco shouldn't need to be filed through the speedo hole. TBH
Well, it is true, but I still don't think you'd want to fill the transmission fluid through that port (it is the drain hole, you still want to fill the fluid through the speedo cable port). The repositioned hole meant that you could check the fluid level without having to replentish some of it since on earlier models (including my '86 GTI) the drain hole was located lower, so using the drain hole to check fluid level meant you still had to add more fluid (forget, maybe a pint?) even if the fluid was at the top of the hole. It was mentioned in my Bentley (which I got a couple years after my '86 came out, so it talked about the newer model changes).
Not sure why there isn't a dipstick on manual transmissions like there is on automatics (maybe because most people don't even think about sevicing manual transmission fluids?)
||PJ4LIFE wrote: ||> One more thing... Is this True?? || ||> "88 or 89 and up VWs have the fill hole moved higher so both ||> full quarts can be pumped in through the side fill hole without ||> having to mess with the speedo cable, but this is not the case ||> on earlier A2 cars so make sure which tranny is which. " || ||> If so, my 88 Rocco shouldn't need to be filed through the speedo hole. TBH || ||Well, it is true, but I still don't think you'd want to fill the ||transmission fluid through that port (it is the drain hole, you still ||want to fill the fluid through the speedo cable port). The repositioned ||hole meant that you could check the fluid level without having to ||replentish some of it since on earlier models (including my '86 GTI) the ||drain hole was located lower, so using the drain hole to check fluid level ||meant you still had to add more fluid (forget, maybe a pint?) even if the ||fluid was at the top of the hole. It was mentioned in my Bentley (which I ||got a couple years after my '86 came out, so it talked about the newer ||model changes).
I don't know if I'm understanding this. I have a '87 GLI, haven't switched to MTL yet, but will. So there's a drain plug, and a fill plug, and the speedo hole is a little higher that the fill plug. Using the speedo hole, you can overfill that transmission, and that is good? Rex in Fort Worth
Not sure where you get the idea that this procedure would overfill the transmission? You can measure how much transmission fluid goes in, and if you know the capacity, what overfilling occurs?
I don't know of a fill plug, only the speedo cable hole (which is used to fill) and a drain plug. Some people use the drain hole as a way of checking the transmission fluid level, but on early models (with lower drain plug) if you open the plug, you need to replentish that amount after you cap the drain plug. On later models (maybe MY88?) they moved the drain plug up, so that you can check the level without replentishing any fluid. --
--------- Tom Flynn in Austin '78 Scirocco (sold 1988) '86 GTi (sold 2000) '00 Golf (to be sold 2018?) I speak only for myself
Hey Craig
Sorry my bad. I did misread that. It is FOR SURE 17mm because I made one from heating up a 17mm bolt and bending it into an 'L' shape. Its cheap and easy. I did the same thing for my 72 bus tranny. ;) Im a cheap bastard I know I know.....
You're not going to hear me complain about being cheap and making tools... I do it all the time. In this case, the Autozone was closer than any place that sells a long 17mm headed bolt. ;-)
Craig
There are three openings we're talking about here: The drain plug is on the bottom of the transmission -- you take it out, the tranny drains all the way. There is a plug on the side (end) of the tranny, also a 17mm, that is used to check the oil level. Then, there is the hole into which the speedo cable enters the tranny case, on the top. On the older ones (like my '85), you drained though the bottom hole, then filled until the oil just began to flow out of the side hole. When it did, you put the side plug back in, and then added an additional amount of oil through the speedo cable hole. I learned this the hard way -- I knew there was an oil-level check plug on the side, so I backed it out, and dumped about a pint of 80W-90 onto the driveway. I figured the tranny had been 'way over-filled, but it hadn't. Apparently, on the newer ones, you fill until it's at the side drain hole, and that's it. No need to add any additional through the speedo cable hole.
I just took an old lug bolt and welded it into a hole in a scrap of steel about
6-8" long. Works fine and cost nothing.
That's what I do, 2 liters (or 2 qts. and a few ounces) and you can't go wrong. I usually pump it in from the top, w/ the filler plug out and wait until I see it starting to run out before installing the plug (hat way I know for sure the oil is in there). Usually starts running out around 1.5 qts, then I fill the remainder in. More info:
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